Means for removing grass from railroad tracks



w. J. VALE'LLYv HANS FOR REMOVING GRASS FROM RAILROAD TRACKS v April 16, 1929.

Filed' Nov. 1, 1927 gwuento'o m11/ a1 E115 l NfozweW Patented Apr. 16, 1929.

. UNITED STATES.

PATENT ori-"E,

WILLIAM J. VALEIfLY, (DF. BOHAM', TEXAS.

MEANS FOR, REMQVING GRAss'rRoM RAILROAD TRACKS.

Application filed November immediately adjacent the same.' It is Well known that grass and'- weeds growingin a.

railroad track will spread over the track rails and be crushed thereon sothat the' railsbecome slippery and the locomotive fails to obtain sufficient traction to draw its load'. By

the use of my invention, the grass and weeds are destroyed and, consequently', the slippery condition of the track rails is avoided. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularly defined.

VIn the drawing: n Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a car truck Ahaving my attachment applied vthereto ;v

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section on the line 4-'4 of Fig. 2, and Y Fig. 5' is a section on the line 5 5 offFig, 4. The car truck, a portion of which is shown at 1, may beof any approved construction,

and usuallyl the attachment is applied to one of the trucks of the locomotive tender. In carrying out theinvention, I provide suportinfr arms consist-infr of a lower stra a bar 2 and an upper strap bar -which are connectedat their outer ends by a bridge Amember 4 which may be cast or otherwise formed integral with the strap bars. The opposite ends of the bars are disposed respectively below and above thejournal box 5 of the'car truck and are firmly secured thereto by bolts 6 inserted through the bars atthe sides of the journal box, `as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 1. It will be understood, however, that the strap bars need not be applied to the journal boxes of the truck but may be secured to theside beams or other fixed members of the truck. Between the strap bars 2 and 3, bearing boxes or blocks 7 are fitted, and these blocks or` boxes are* vprovided upon their tops and bottoms with parallel vertical flanges 8 between which vthe strap bars are received, 'as shown clearly in 3, so that the boxes or blocks will vbe prevented fromhaving lateral movement 1, `1927.` serial no. 230,345.

with lrespect tov the strap bars. The boxes or blocks: may slide along the strap bars and are yieldablyf held toward the truck by expan-y sion springsQ disposedbetween the strap barsL and bearing at one end against the boxes and atv theiropposite ends against abutments 10 carried by adjusting screws 11 mountedin the bridging members 4, as shown andas will' be understood..v The boxes 7 receive the outer ends ofa shaft 12 which' extends fr'om box to box and has itsends fitted within thimbles or bushings lpressed intoA lentire space'between the track rar-ils and alsof operate at the outer sides of the rails, as will j beunderstood upon reference to Fig. 2. Adjacent the ends of' the shaft 12, friction disks k16 are secured thereon,f'and these disks are so arranged as to bear against the treads of the car wheels'l( lso as to receive-motion there` from, itbeing seen at oncethat the brushes will' rota-te reverselyto the wheels'so that they will effectually sweep over the track#- bed and cut away the obnoxious Avegetable growtli--.l The friction disks arepre'lerably constructed yoffliber or have their peripheries covered with leather soi as toobtain the desired good frictional VContact with the car wheels and theyare held yieldably to the car' wheelsby the springs 9 in an obvious manner, the adjusting screws 11 providing for the adjustment of the shaft to obtain the proper degree of friction and to compensate for wear. In order to maintain the strap bars 2 and 3 in the proper parallel relation and prevent bending of the same so as to interfere with the proper yielding movement of the boxes a filler 18 is provided between and secured to the bars, as shown clearly in Fig. 1,' between the boxes 7 and the car truck. It will alsofbe noted vthat the lower strap bar 2 extends in a single horizontal plane while the upper bar is offset both vertically and horizontally, as at 19, in order to locate the brush shaft 12 at a low point and accommodate brushes at the outer side of the track rail and the filler block is locatedimmediately in ad- Vance of the bend in the upper bar.

lVhile the brushes may be secured to the Vferentially ext-ending recess or notchQO is provided in the brush shaft in which the brush mayseat tangentially to the shaft, and a clamping plate 2l is disposed against the outer side of the brush, said plate having a The groove and notch may have a radius suflicient to completely encircle the brush, or the brush fibers may be tied together between their ends. A U-bolt 23 is fitted over the shaft and through diagonally opposite corners of the plate 2l, and nuts 24 0n the ends of the bolt are turned home against the plate to securely clamp the brush to the shaft. Vhen the brush wears, loosening of the nuts will permit it to be-adjuste'd to take up the wear and then be again secured, and practi-V cally half the length of the brush is thus available for effective use.

The action of thef device will be readily understood.V The attachment is applied to the truck and properly adjusted so that the friction disks willbe in contact with the car wheels, whereupon whenever the car is in motion the brush shaft l2 will be rotated and the brushes caused to sweep through the vegetation and cut down the same. The brushes should be of such length that they will sweep close to the roots of the growth and'in many instances will uproot the same so that the growth will be entirely destroyed. The device is exceedingly simple in the construction and arrangement of its parts and may be easily applied to any car truck. It does not add perceptibly to the draft or load of the car and is not apt to get out of order so that after being applied it requires little, if any attention.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A device foi the purpose set forth comprising att-aching arms, means for securing said arms to a car truck, a brush shaft carried by said arms, brushes secured to said shaft, friction 'disks secured on said shaft and adapted to beV rotated by the wheels of a lcar truck, and means carried the arms for holding the friction disks to the car wheels. groove 22 therein to fit around the brush.

2. A device for the purpose set forth comprising a pair of arms, means for attaching the .arms to a car truck, boxes slidably fitted in said arms, a shaft'extending between and n carried by said boxes, brushes secured to said shaft, friction disks secured on said shaft andadapted to engage the wheels of a car truck, expansion springs carried by the arms c and bearing against the boxes to yieldably hold the disks to the car wheels, and means for adjusting the tension of the springs.

3. A device for the purpose set forth comprisinn' upper and lower strap bars disposed in vertically spaced relation, both bars being laterally offset and the upper bars being vertically offset, means for securing the rear ends ofsaid bars to a car truck, boxes slid-V ablyinounted between and carried byrsaid bars, thimbles fitted in said boxes, a shaft having its ends liournalcd in said thiinbles, brushes secured to said shaft, friction disks secured on said shaft and adapted to engage the wheels of a car truck, and means carried bv the outerA ends of the strap bars to yieldably li'old the disks to the car wheels. 

